The University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMC) Pediatric Oncology Division utilizes the cooperative studies of the Pediatric Oncology Group (POG) as the basis for its clinical and laboratory research programs. The UMC's participation in the POG incorporates multidisciplinary input, both locally and on POG committees. Participating disciplines include: pediatric medical oncology (chemotherapy), pediatric surgery, pediatric pathology, radiation therapy, immunology, and cytogenetics. The POG's central objective is the delineation of increasingly effective means for treating various types of childhood malignancies using the cooperative efforts of the 39 participating institutions in treatment protocol design and implementation and in performing ancillary laboratory research studies. Studies are currently planned or in progress for acute lymphocytic leukemia, acute granulocytic leukemia, Hodgkin's disease, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, histiocytosis X, Wilms' tumor, neuroblastoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, osteogenic sarcoma, Ewing's sarcoma, brain tumor and germ cell tumor. The UMC is participating actively in POG committee functions and protocol development. The UMC principal investigator is serving as chairman of the New ALL Committee. The UMC is serving as the coordinating institution for the pilot and final ALinC (Acute Leukemia in Children) 13 classification and treatment protocols (POG 7865, 7866, 8035, and 8036) and also as the coordinating institution or the T-cell leukemia portion of the POG 7615 protocol.